Ice Cube 70qt. Cooler With Wheels: Mash/Lauter Tun

[BrewBlender]

If I'm batch sparging and plan on using a bazooka or SS braid, does it have to be on the bottom of the cooler or is it ok to be up as high as where the drain is?

[yabodie]

If the braid/screen is not on the bottom you will loose a lot of wort. So if you want to plan for that loss in your recipe go for it... Otherwise try to suck as much wort out of the cooler that you can.

Also if your screen in suspended off the bottom, there will will be a greater chance of breaking it off when you stir your grain bed at dough in. Spend the couple $ on some copper tubes/fittings to get the screen on the bottom, just my 2 cents...

[Mylo]

Your situation will be better for batch sparging, but you will still leave a lot of sugar in the grain below the drain, and less than desirable efficiencies. You might even have to do 3 or 4 smaller batches, instead of 2 - to hit your numbers.

If you ever decide to try fly sparging, you will have terrible efficiencies because a lot of the grainbed will go "unsparged".


Mylo

[BrewBlender]

What if I throw an elbow on the fitting like this:

http://forums.moreflavor.com/viewtopic.php?p=178722&highlight=#178722

[Mylo]

Yep, that's all you need.


Mylo

[Crut]

I Just remember what cooler exactly you have. I looked at it and the spigot is on the back part of the cooler. I hope I didnt confuse ya with my knowledge. The rear facing spigot that is on the "wheel hump" is exactly why i DIDNT buy that one and opted for the one without wheels.
Hows this project coming? any advancements?
-Crut

[BrewBlender]

I'm still waiting for the weldless spigot I ordered online and then it'll be off to Home Depot for the CPVC parts. I did find a thread on morebeer with the same exact cooler...I'd like to build the same manifold as this. (see his photo below) Now I just have to decide if I'm going to do holes or slots. Is one way better than the other or is it just a preference?

[Mylo]

I have always seen slots on CPVC and copper manifolds like this. The important thing is to have enough of them - especially if you ever intend to recirculate. I have slots in mine, and I can get clear runoff with 2-3 quarts of vorloff.

I'm not sure if holes would work. There would have to be a LOT of them and/or they would have to be large - but if they were too large then they would allow pieces of grain in and/or clog. The question that you didn't ask is - top or bottom. It really doesn't matter because the siphon is going to break as soon as air hits a slot, so you are always going to leave half of the pipe diameter worth of wort on the bottom of the tun. I personally put my slots on top because the smooth continous bottom made more sense to me.


Mylo